It's also a tale of WASPy repression, since the decisive events in the sisters' lives are something they never speak of-Merricat ties up the loose ends for us in voiceover as she writes in her journal. Jackson's novel is, essentially, a tale told by a psychopath. Connie can only venture a few steps from their door-for reasons we can only guess at initially-so Merricat makes a weekly trip to town, enduring the taunts and threats of the locals (at least one of whom seems to have a valid grievance). Taissa Farmiga, now in her mid-twenties, gives a fine spooky performance as the elflike teenage Merricat, and bodacious Alexandra Daddario gets to stretch a bit more than she did in "Baywatch," I'm guessing, as elder sister Connie, who floats dreamily through a fantasy of gracious country living, baking pies in the kitchen and pottering in the garden. I don't know whether the decision to film on the east coast of Ireland was esthetic or economic, but the acid greens and phosphorescent yellows of the rain-soaked woods furnish the perfect backdrop for Merricat's obsessive rituals, burying coins and magic charms while chanting protective spells.
Stacie Passon's film adaptation of Jackson's novel is brilliant, visually and dramatically. One thing that stayed with me was this taunting nursery rhyme, which is all we get as a backstory for a while: "Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea? Oh no, said Merricat, you'll poison me."
Doolittle and the Hardy Boys at the time, and this gothic tale about two reclusive sisters living in a fortresslike mansion with their dotty uncle was a bit above my pay grade.
Ma was a serious Shirley Jackson fan, and I remember trying to read this one when I was a kid, but I was still into Dr. Reviewed by The_late_Buddy_Ryan 9 / 10 One of my mother's old library books comes back to haunt us
0 kommentar(er)
